Michigan Downs Northwestern to Kick Off Regular-Season Ending Homestand

Michigan Downs Northwestern to Kick Off Regular-Season Ending Homestand

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)

Score: #7 Michigan 4, Northwestern 1

Records: U-M (21-3, 7-1 B1G), Northwestern (18-8, 6-2 B1G)

Next U-M Event: Sunday, April 23 — vs. Illinois (Varsirt Tennis Center), Noon

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The University of Michigan men’s tennis team took sole possession of second place in the Big Ten standings after a 4-1 win over Northwestern on Friday (April 21) at the Varsity Tennis Center, with one match remaining in the regular season.

Michigan secured the doubles point after an all-out battle. After trading games at No. 2 doubles Patrick Maloney and Nino Ehrenschneider fell behind 1-0 to No. 80 Ivan Yatsuck and Gleb Blekher in the tiebreaker before rattling off seven straight points to win 7-6 (1).

Ondrej Styler and Jacob Bickersteth led 3-1 at No. 3 before the Wildcats won two straight games. Tied at 5-5, the Wolverines took a 6-5 lead and then broke Natan Spear and Trice Pickens to take the match 7-5.

No. 8-ranked Andrew Fenty and Gavin Young were neck-and-neck with No. 61-ranked Steven Forman and Simen Bratholm as they headed into a tiebreaker on court one. The match was abandoned at 6-6 with the tiebreaker knotted at 4-4.

The Wolverines were in great position, winning five of six first sets.

Winning his 10th match of the season, No. 33-ranked Maloney put up 6-2 and 6-3 scores over Bratholm at No. 3. At No. 1, No. 60-ranked Forman was able to take a match from No. 11-ranked Fenty 6-2, 6-3 to keep the Wildcats in the match, 2-1.

Bickersteth pushed Michigan within one of clinching the team match, taking 6-2, 6-4 matches from Blekher. Bickersteth is now 5-1 in Big Ten play and 18-6 on the season.

Minutes later, Young clinched the Michigan win after dominating the second set tiebreak 7-0. After taking a 6-1 set, Presley Thieneman grabbed a 3-1 edge in the second set. Young won the next two games and they went back-and-forth until Young took over in the tiebreak, his 20th singles win of the year.

Styler won his first set 7-6 (5) against Yatsuk and was tied 4-4 in the second, while Ehrenschneider and Pickens were knotted at 2-2 in the third when both matches were abandoned.

Michigan will honor…